


I Won’t Say I’m in Love

by dreaminginscenes



Category: Hercules (1997), Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Almost Kiss, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Hercules (1997) Fusion, Crossover, F/M, Flirting, Mutual Pining, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:01:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26186848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreaminginscenes/pseuds/dreaminginscenes
Summary: Hercules AU—Eugene is a thief who has sold his sold to the goddess of chaos in return for riches, but now Gothel demands that he find the Rapunzel’s weakness—the daughter of the sun gods—before the Equinox.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	I Won’t Say I’m in Love

**Author's Note:**

> Written in response to a piece by the incomparable kingreywrites (tumblr and ao3)!

Their laughter rang through the still streets. Night had fallen a long time ago, but this particular pair still danced through the moonlight without a care in the world.

“Eugene!” Rapunzel spun with a giggle, twirling her lavender dress so the satin reflected silver light. “Today was amazing! First there was the pub, and then the dancing, and the _lanterns!_ That was literally the most magical thing I have ever seen.”

Eugene couldn’t help but join her dancing, seizing her hands and spinning her yet again. What on earth had taken hold of him, he had no idea. “Didn’t think playing hooky could be so fun, did you!”

Rapunzel yelped and laughed aloud with the spin; it was quite possibly the most delightful sound he had ever heard, “Next week, you have to sneak me out again!” She managed to giggle out. “No ‘ifs’ ‘ands’ or ‘buts’ about it; we’re doing this again.”

Eugene gave her a bow, “As the lady commands.”

She smacked his shoulder playfully, coaxing him to eye just how adorable her face was in that moment. He cast his gaze up, but a very different sight caught him.

Just behind Rapunzel, in the darkened alley they happened to halt in front of, stood two hulking figures in the shadows. Eugene quickly recognized the scarred men as the lackeys to his master.

Eugene gritted his teeth at the glower both men sent. He knew full well what that meant. Don’t forget his assignment. And he hadn’t. Of course. The whole day out was just to loosen her up. That’s all.

Or so he told himself.

Eugene surveyed the square quickly; he’d rather do the interrogation in private. The information he needed out of Rapunzel was valuable enough that it could serve as leverage should the situation require. It certainly wasn’t anything he wanted the Stabbingtons taking back to the goddess first. This was _his_ assignment and _his_ reward.

He spotted a set of stairs artfully obscured by over-hanging willow branches in full bloom. Excellent; he knew exactly where those stairs led. Shooting his own sour glare at the Stabbingtons, which Rapunzel seemed to be unaware of as she was so lost in her own little world, Eugene snapped her from it with a gentle hand to the small of her back. “Hey, let’s see where those stairs go.”

Rapunzel was more than happy to take the invitation for adventure and immediately darted for the secret retreat. Eugene cast one more glance to the alleyway, relieved to see the two figures had apparently taken their leave.

With a quickened step, Eugene joined Rapunzel on the petal-carpeted stairs. She was still going on about all they had done that day, which Eugene was more than happy to let her rant on about while he devised a plan. Ideally, he would have done so long before taking her out for their escapade, but he had needed to see where their wanderings would take them before finding a good private spot to wheedle the necessary truth from her. And he might have gotten a little distracted during the date.

Day. Not date. Day out. That’s all.

An idea struck him as they left the stairs for the paved winding path through the open garden. He had to get her to stop her brisk walk, and he knew one method that always worked.

Eugene made a grand show of tripping over absolutely nothing, “OW! Shoot!” 

Rapunzel immediately whirled around, “Eugene! What happened?”

Her concern really brought out the color in her eyes, Eugene noted. That was something he would have to dwell on later, as he currently had to keep up his impeccable acting job. “Ah, it’s nothing, just twisted my ankle a little.”

Rapunzel leaned down to get a better look at the foot he was favoring, “Really? That easily?”

“It’s nothing new. I may be the picture of male perfection, but I’m cursed with weak ankles.”

Rapunzel shook her head, trying her best to look mildly annoyed, although Eugene noted her charmed smirk. “Alright, you big baby. Let’s sit you down.” Rapunzel linked her arm with Eugene’s and helped the hobbling man to a nearby bench.

Eugene sat himself down heavily with a wince for good measure. So far, she seemed to be buying it. The bench she had chosen was perfectly framed by a weeping willow tree, with a view of an enormous mirror-like fountain studded with marble statues. Most of them were odd cherubic winged baby things. Aside from the distasteful choice in art, the setting was just right to hopefully put her in the mood for what he had up his sleeve next. At the very least, situated where he was so close beside her, Eugene couldn’t help but notice the mood settling over himself.

“So…” Eugene surreptitiously fingered open the top few buckles on his vest. If anything could get a woman to talk, it would be his undeniable sex appeal, “Do you have any problems with things like _this?”_ In one dramatic move, Eugene stuck out his “hurt” ankle to “casually” expose his chest.

He certainly did not miss the way her eye trailed down his leg to his conveniently open vest. Eugene cocked an eyebrow with his trademark devilish grin, “Weak ankles, I mean.”

Rapunzel noticeably refocused her vision to the leather boot in her face. Like a proper lady she squared her shoulders and pushed his leg back down, “No, not particularly.”

Oh. He was not going to be beaten that easily. He was the best smooth-talker for a reason, and a simple curt response was not enough to deter him from getting the information he needed.

“No weaknesses whatsoever?” Eugene scooted closer along the bench, vest still hanging open by more than the appropriate amount, “No trick knee?” His arm snaked along the back of the bench to barely disturb the golden locks drifting over; Eugene tried to ignore how his gut fluttered at the sensation. Or how he truly couldn’t tear his eyes from hers. None of that was part of the plan. 

“Or…” his voice dropped low and husky, not quite of his own volition, “ruptured disks?” Maybe not the sexiest phrase, but it was certainly doing something for him the closer he leaned to her upturned and incredibly pink face.

Their gazes held for a long silent moment. Eugene knew, logically, he needed to get her to talk; but talking wasn’t really what he wanted to do at the moment. Not when his focus kept flickering to her slightly parted lips. 

Rapunzel cleared her throat and pushed a rough finger against his highly exposed chest. Added with the sudden stern glare she shot him, Eugene retreated back by a foot as though she would start shooting daggers from her eyes. “I am fit as a fiddle,” she said with finality. Her point now made, Rapunzel stood from the bench and sashayed across the plaza to the fountain.

Eugene was experiencing a predicament quite foreign to him. He had attempted, with tried-and-true methods, to seduce a young woman in order to get information out of her. But, in her turning down the seduction, had instead gotten _himself_ seduced. 

The irony of the situation was far from lost on him.

In hasty shame Eugene buckled his vest up again. What had ever made him think that move would actually work on Rapunzel? She never fell for his trickery, much less his flirtations.

Which only made the heat building under his collar flare that much hotter.

He dared to cast his gaze over to where she idled by the fountain. The moonlight shimmered along her golden locks to create a silver halo. With the fountain’s reflection dancing in her emerald eyes, Eugene could hardly imagine a more beautiful treasure.

“Sunshine, you really are perfect,” not a shred of jest tinged Eugene’s voice; his own sincerity was rather startling.

“Psh, flatterer,” Rapunzel attempted to brush off the compliment. Nevertheless she cast him a glance from the corner of her eye. Eugene could have sworn the slightest smile brushed her lips. ”But…thank you.”

Perhaps to avoid his continued stare, Rapunzel fingered the fountain’s edge until her hand glazed over a small pebble. “Let’s see if I picked up on what you taught me,” she flashed him a cheeky grin that Eugene found more than a little enticing. His feet carried him to her side before he could stop them.

She readied the pebble, then with a quick sideways sweep sent it skipping perfectly over the mirror-like water. A little too perfectly, perhaps, as its trajectory continued until smashing into a small statue centered in the fountain. A marbled chunk shattered off and plopped into the water.

Rapunzel let out the tiniest, “ _EEP_!” and slapped a hand over her mouth in shock. Despite all her fame and acclaim, she was still a bit of a dork. Eugene’s heart fluttered.

He eyed the statue, “You know, I think it actually looks better that way.” It was an honest observation. The weird fat winged baby statue had lost its plump-cheeked head and arms. While a bit creepy, it was not nearly as creepy as a fat baby staring down its observer.

“You think so?”

“Yeah; honest. It’s much better now.”

“Then call it my artistic instinct.”

Eugene could help but snicker at the quip.

Rapunzel let out a dreamy sigh and turned her face to the stars. “You know, it wasn’t that long ago that all I wanted was to just be like any other normal person.”

The phrase riled Eugene’s insides. Rapunzel wasn’t normal; he didn’t want her to be normal. Her oddity made her a decent person in this screw-up world. More than decent; good, special, _perfect_. He had meant it before, and the more he lingered on it the more he believed it in a core part of himself. Rapunzel was different, and the gods forbid anything dare make her otherwise. “It’s not all it’s chalked up to be.”

“Being normal? What makes you say that?”

Eugene bit his lip; he was a normal person. He would never want Rapunzel to be anything like him. “Because normal people are just petty and dishonest. They only look out for themselves and will take down anyone in their way to get what they want.”

Rapunzel’s brow furrowed as she searched his face for answers. Eugene wished he could make her easily understand without having to break her heart. The world was a cold lonely place, and she was too pure to recognize that. 

“Not everybody is like that,” she countered.

Eugene couldn’t take her gaze any longer. It begged to shed light on his soul, which he knew was impossible for her to brighten for a number of reasons. He turned and sat on the fountain’s edge to at least avert himself from her questioning eyes. “Well, _you’re_ not like that, obviously. You’re a good person. There’s not many of those left, unfortunately. Everyone else though…” he pursed his lips, “Everyone else is like that.” _Including me,_ he mentally added.

Rapunzel’s slight form sat beside him. Every muscle in his body stiffened at the unexpected contact of her thigh brushing his. The air was ripped from his lungs as her delicate hand slipped into his own. She must have felt how his pulse thrummed under her touch.

“ _You’re_ not like that,” she said gently, not quite a whisper but words meant only for him. Not even the night air was privy to her phrase.

_Oh gods…_ This wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t supposed to feel…whatever he was feeling. He didn’t mean for her to be so open and vulnerable like this. Yes, he was supposed to make her talk. But this was too much. Seeing her as she truly was; letting her see him, and the flood of elation at the possibility that she accepted him regardless; it was all too much. Rapunzel may have broken his shell, but he still hid a secret. 

He was supposed to betray her. 

“You—you don’t know what I’m like,” he stuttered, attempting to push off her hand. “Really, I’m just like anyone else in this messed up world.”

Rapunzel only gripped his hand tighter, “No. I don’t believe that for a second, Eugene.” She leaned forward to better catch his downturned eyes. “Do you know why?”

Eugene answered by meeting her gaze.

“I know because when I’m with you, the world doesn’t feel quite so lonely anymore. And that’s not just because you’re company; it’s because you fill the part of my life that has grown used to being alone.”

Eugene pursed his lips, “Sometimes it’s better to be alone.”

She seemed to be reading his very thoughts, “Why?”

_Gods, please make her just stay away from me,_ “Because no one can hurt you.” Perhaps Rapunzel would see the warning in his eyes; _he_ was the one who would hurt her, _he_ was the one she needed to stay away from. Eugene prayed again like a mantra that some divine force would take her far from him, because no power was capable of tearing him away now. Not when her hands were so perfectly entwined with his.

Rapunzel brushed her palm along Eugene’s cheek, making him noticeably shudder at her touch, “Eugene, I would never hurt you. You know that. And I know you would never hurt me.”

“I don’t _want_ to hurt you,” a twinge of panic coursed through Eugene’s nerves, “but I—look, let’s just stop this…”

Rapunzel was leaning closer, her eyelids drooping. _What was I stopping?_ “Before…um…” Before what? Before her hand drifted from his cheek to the nape of his neck and started pulling him closer? “Before we….”

—————

Eugene stroked the voluminous white petals of Rapunzel’s flower. Well, the one she had plucked for him from the willow tree. Maybe that made it his flower, technically. But no, it was hers. The petals were almost as soft as the kiss she had planted on his cheek a few minutes earlier. Right before her dutiful body guards, the horse and the frog-chameleon-thing, had snatched her back from her rebellious escapade. He took a sniff of the flower’s perfume. Not quite Rapunzel’s scent, but he could imagine it was how she would smell after a long walk in a lush garden. Eugene took another deep breath of the scent.

And then reality smacked him in the face. He let out a long groan and cast aside the blossom before he could give it a second thought. No, now was not the time to be having such emotions. And he wasn’t even that kind of man. Pounding hearts, blushing cheeks, sweet kisses; none of that was for him. Even if he wanted it, it wasn’t something he would be allowed to have.

Not so long as the goddess held his soul in her talons.

He glared at the flower as though willing it to burst into flames. What had made him think he could ever be in love, or be loved back? Just because Rapunzel didn’t fall for his hokey Flynn Rider facade? Because she worked to tear down his walls? Because she had been the only person to ever get him to open up and talk about his past?

As he pondered, he realized those were actually legitimate reasons.

But no; Rapunzel was just a bad judge of character, Eugene told himself. She didn’t see the “real” him; there was no real Eugene. He was and always would be a thief and a liar.

Right?

A thief and a liar would have played with Rapunzel’s emotions and blind trust until he got the answer he needed. Eugene, however, had given up after one half-hearted attempt. Or rather, had become incredibly distracted. If he truly didn’t care for her well-being, wouldn’t he have done everything to find the truth that would set his very soul free?

But even his soul seemed meaningless.

“Who am I kidding…” Eugene retrieved the flower from where it had fallen on the fountain edge. Rapunzel was heaven and earth to him. There was no use denying it. So long as he didn’t fool himself into thinking they could ever have a future, there was no need to deny himself the feelings.

Eugene took another long breath of the blossom’s scent and let himself imagine Rapunzel, drifting through a spring garden adorned in colors that outshone nature’s own beauty. Well...maybe he _could_ envision a future with her. Maybe it wasn’t so impossible, in a better world. So long as he never admitted it out loud, what harm was there in admitting it to himself?

He was in love.

Whatever that meant, however long it lasted, it didn’t matter; for now, Eugene could let himself be in love.

A shadow flickered in the corner of his eye. It could have been written off as a trick of the mind, but he knew better at this point. Eugene groaned aloud as the blossoming willow tree was consumed by tendrils of pure darkness, disintegrating all life from its branches.

The blackened tree split in half with a great crack and released a figure that, to anyone else, would strike pure terror into mortal hearts. From Eugene, the goddess only received an exasperated eye roll.

The goddess lounged across the decaying branches of the tree her arrival had destroyed, her gown of bloody red spilling across the branches to the dirt like the liquid of its namesake. “Flynn! You are looking quite handsome tonight, as usual.”

Eugene gave her an incredibly mocking bow, “And to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Lady Gothel?”

Her billowing black tresses twirled through the air. “You know perfectly well, dear. Now tell me, what is our sweet little Sunshine’s main weakness? What is the key to bringing down the one flaw in my quest for complete and utter chaos?”

Eugene didn’t bother to hide his scowl. Even if she dragged him to the deepest pits of the Underworld, he would never tell her such a thing if he knew it. Thankfully, as an added bonus, he did not know such a thing. But there was no need to reveal that just yet. For once in his imprisonment, he actually had the upper hand. “Find yourself another pawn. I’m done.” He hissed the rejection through gritted teeth.

Gothel’s glowing steel eyes narrowed dangerously, “Stop mumbling and speak up boy—”

“Then read my lips! Forget it!”

The goddess eyed him for another moment before bleeding down from her perched to slither up to him, “Oh Flynn,” Gothel dared to trace her black needle-like nails down the cheek where Rapunzel’s kiss still remained, “Are you not forgetting one crucial detail?” With sudden fury her nails dug into his skin and tore across his cheek, _“I OWN YOU.”_

Eugene fought the instinct to flinch even as the hot sting of blood trickled down his cheek. A show of force would not be enough to sway him. Not this time.

Gothel’s sneer deepened as she spotted the flower he still clutched. She grasped his wrist to bring the treasonous blossom to light. “Don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen in _love_ with that girl.”

Eugene held his ground. She had no need to know whether or not that was true.

The goddess’ sneer molded into a dark smile, “A man like you doesn’t feel love. We both know that. You don’t care enough about people; you never have. That’s what made you come running to me. Your own soul was of so little worth to you that you valued reputation and riches over it. You are a dark, twisted man and that’s why you serve my kingdom.”

Eugene’s blood was beginning to boil, “That’s not true anymore.”

Gothel clicked her tongue, “Ahh…so she’s made you believe you actually have worth. It’s sad really, that the words of a silly girl are enough to shake you.”

Despite how much he tried to hold his control, Eugene couldn’t help but be ruffled by the insult to Rapunzel. “She sees me differently; she showed me I _can_ be different.”

Gothel’s high-pitched laugh pierced his ears, “Now this is rich! Not only have you fallen in love with the girl, you think she could possibly even love _you!_ This is why I keep you around, Rider. So pathetically funny.”

“Eugene,”

Gothel cocked an eyebrow, “Excuse me?”

He made sure to over-enunciate, “My name is Eugene Fitzherbert. Not Flynn Rider.”

The goddess examined her prisoner with an intrigued quizzicality, “Changing your name does not change who you are. You are still a thief, a liar, a rogue. You are cut from the same cloth I was a millennia ago. One silly girl is not going to change that.”

“You’re wrong!” Eugene dared to raise his voice to the immortal being. “I’m a different person now, and it’s because of her. Say what you will about my character, but I’m not going to sit by and be your willing pawn anymore. I don’t care what you do to my soul, but I am not going to help you hurt Rapunzel,” He couldn’t help but grin a smile dark enough to match Gothel’s as he prepared to twist the truth slightly; he was an excellent liar after all. “Besides, _your eminence_ , you will never defeat Rapunzel. Because she has no weaknesses. Come the equinox, she is going to put an end to you before you even have the chance to blink.”

Gothel’s smile never wavered; in fact, it widened sickeningly across her gray skin, “I think,” the blossom in Eugene’s hand, still clutched by Gothel, began to blacken and wither, “She does have a weakness. A very vulnerable one, indeed.”

Eugene watched the flower crumble to ash before his eyes with dawning comprehension. The cuts in his cheek still burned and dripped, staining the once-white flowers.

What had he done? By the gods, _what had he done?_


End file.
